[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Survivor Season 49 Episode 5, “I’m a Wolf, Baby.”]
Strategic minds made for the most interesting storylines in Survivor 49 Episode 5, an episode that won’t go down as the season’s most entertaining. Jeff Probst promised that Season 49 picks up momentum about halfway through gameplay, so expect to remain in a bit of a lull until the merge. Thankfully, two slow-burning rivalries provided some intrigue in the episode that aired on October 22.
Shannon spent most of the episode talking a big game to her Kele tribe, laying the charm on thick in every conversation she had to try and build relationships and coordinate a six-person majority alliance for after the merge that would consist of two members from each of the three original tribes (Kele, Uli, and Hina — only Kele and Hina remain after last week’s tribe swap). Shannon didn’t approach Sage with this plan, and word of that got back to her. Sage, the season’s quirkiest cast member by far (last week, she revealed she keeps a jar of blackheads in her bedroom…), flexed some strategic muscles when finally getting looped in on secret talks with her fellow castaways.
Sage and Shannon both came from the original Uli, so Sage knows that Rizo found an advantage that, thanks to his Hina tribe’s loss last week, is probably now an immunity idol. She shared this intel with everyone on Kele except Shannon while Shannon was off on her own. That idol never came up in Shannon’s talks with everyone she was trying to schmooze, so now Sage is looking good to her tribe.
Over on Hina, Nate was chosen to go on a solo journey that paired him up with M.C. from Kele. He tried to sabotage the chances of M.C. getting an advantage on this challenge, which required them to work together. M.C. was smart enough to notice, and she made moves to protect herself.
Savannah’s “agitation” with Jawan didn’t show off any strategic prowess, but it was entertaining. He keeps on accidentally using her bag and her water bottle, and he’s listening in on a lot of her conversations, even ones that aren’t about strategy. She just does not like playing with the guy, and the dislike will hopefully come to a head soon, so the plot can move on to more interesting gameplay. You can tell the energy is lower than usual among both tribes due to the extreme heat. And while the conditions are certainly dramatic, it’s not making for Survivor‘s most fun scenes.
Poor Sophi has never missed a Tribal Council this season, and that didn’t change in this episode, either. Hina went into Tribal Council ready to make the easy choice to vote Jason, the last original Hina member on their team, out. Last week, they sent Matt packing, and Jason knew the target could be on him this week. Still, he didn’t play his Shot in the Dark, and the Uli-strong alliance sent a strong message to the other team that they want a “war” against the old Hina with Jason’s elimination.
Hina’s crime: Chanting their team name a lot. The other players felt they were “rubbing in” their success in earlier episodes and communicating that their yellow tribe was one big, strong alliance. It’s hard to see how Kele’s Uli alliance won’t be viewed the same way now that they’ve asserted their dominance in Tribal Council two votes in a row.
Stay tuned for an in-depth exit interview with Jason — one of this season’s two alternates — tomorrow.
Survivor, Wednesdays, 8/7c, CBS
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